Page 4751 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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circles with words thrown in, apparently at random. The outer circle, which in Dante’s hell was not too bad a place, has things like “Within reach of us all: ACT government schools plans 2002-04”—it is out of date already—along with “inclusivity” and “professional pathways”. In the next circle, closer to hell, we have “organisational structures and processes” together with “student environment” and “community involvement”. It seems to suggest that “inclusivity” is somehow different from community involvement. I would have thought that inclusive communities are the only sort we as a community should be including in any conceptual framework worthy of the name.
But it is good to know that student achievement and learning, according to the framework, is the core business of schools, even if we are then told that “the complex interplay of these factors”—inclusivity, community involvement, et cetera—“creates different focuses depending on the characteristics and needs of the specific student cohort at any educational site”. In that sentence, we have it all. Either it is saying something so obvious that it is trivial, or it is saying nothing at all. We should ask ourselves in this context: what is an educational site? A school, a classroom, a bike shed? And what is wrong with ordinary words? Are they not obscure enough for a doctorate in education?
One thing, however, that is not obscure is what in practice this document is all about. This conceptual framework may be twaddle, but the subsequent detail very clearly spells out what Ms Gallagher has on her mind for undermining ACT government schools and the children in them, and the best way of bringing this to light is to quote the document verbatim. It says:
Schools for students in the middle years need to create:
a culture of learning—
that sounds quite all right, but let us look at what this culture of learning focuses on—
that focuses initially on engagement through relevance and meaning … should be learner centred and co-constructed involving students in equal partnership with teachers in deciding what is relevant and meaningful. This will empower students to make choices about their own learning, including the nature of the learning environment.
and—
a culture of relationship that recognises that for learning to occur, student wellbeing in the middle years is contingent on meaningful and mentoring relationships where students feel cared for but not smothered. These relationships should focus on students being treated as adults, having a say in what they are being asked to do and feeling empowered as part of the decision-making process. The relationships must feel equal; students in the middle years need to believe that their opinions matter and that their teachers listen to, trust and respect them.
So let us just reflect what this means and what it implies for classroom practice. It means that an 11-year-old should co-construct, in equal partnership with his teacher, what he considers to be meaningful and relevant. I have done the test and most people have come
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